-The Craft Beer Blacklist-

I'm not disputing that. I'm just looking at it from a consumer standpoint.

 

We don't differ on much. However, part of the vibrant and sustainable piece for me is that profits are pumped back into the marketplace. The small brewer isn't going to be sitting on profits, investing them in foreign markets or letting them collect interest. S/he is going to put them back into the market and that's going to increase that vibrance and sustainability. The leader of the huge company is more likely (though certainly not always) to be in a position where s/he couldn't spend all their money if they tried. That's dangerous for the economy (as our current income inequality has demonstrated). In any event, I'm veering away from beer. Suffice it to say, I'd rather Jack's Abby have my money for Leisure Time Lager than SabMiller have it for Pilsner Urquell, because Jack's Abby, in my opinion, is more likely to generate a greater economic multiplier in the community than SabMiller would be.

 

An important issue that I didn't touch upon...well said...

 

Both of these are incredibly broad assumptions. In the case of the former especially, I've heard countless examples of brewers that got into it because they had a passion for it, and the money was second. I've never once heard of someone starting a brewery to get rich, let alone "to be bought out by the big boys".

 

As a person that used to work for a house that carried both, I still cannot see how you can ethically carry a large craft portfolio AND be an AB house. It really SHOULD be one or the other. That's when you'll see craft do better from a distributor standpoint, when you as a salesperson aren't' talking out both sides of your mouth on every call. "You gotta give me a Bud tap, it's brewed the hard way! But dont' give it to me at the cost of that Pumpkin Peach Ale, I gotta keep that tap too!".........poor salesfolk.

I agree with @mwa423 , I'd be more than happy to take that craft distro biz after AB kicks 'em to the curb! Unfortunately, you'll probably just see AB houses spin off the craft distro under another name.

 

I actually did!! they are all yours. As long as Stone still makes their Russian Imperial Stout, I'll be just fine.

 

Yeah, I would rather be sweating over a mash tun rather then lying on the beach in Tahiti. You may be right, give me the names of some smaller breweries that resisted a buy out. You may have started your brewery out of passion, but after 15 or 20 years that passion may fade, especially if your not making a ton of money.

 

You'd make a great point....except that a quick google search gave me population by county for PA. 32 counties are under 90k people (any county above 90k would allow for an AB distributor, a Miller distributor and mwa423's theoretical distributor who would take all the products kicked out of the AB and Miller distros). 1.3 million people live in these 32 counties, compared to 11.5 mill who live in the rest of the state. I'm a bit skeptical that there are a lot of craft brands who are going to close up shop because they can't distribute in Forest County, PA (population 7,700).

Further proving my point, the 25 largest counties all have a large enough population for the max of 5 importing distributors which gives you an AB distributor, a Miller distributor and 3! independent distributors. (This assumes that there's only one macro distributor for AB and Miller in each county, but I suspect that's a pretty reasonable assumption).

 

Granted this will all vary by state but once again you have nailed it sir.

 

Thats going to vary by state. PA is fu***d as it is lol.

 

I don't want that Mercedes Benz making my car, I want a car from Bob's car company.

 

I really liked what you said concerning the "fly by night" breweries; I think it'll eventually go away as people demand a better product, with that being said, I still avoid Goose Island. Economics is the study of a choice among alternatives. I think this list just makes the comsumer more aware of what they are buying, and gives them something that helps them make that choice. I drink what I like, and mostly avoid the shitty "drink local" scene unless there is something that can top my "regular" purchases.

 

I never said not to try to be 100% buying local or whatever you are implying. I was saying by focusing too much on it you miss high quality products. You example about the local hardware store against Home Depot is wrong. It doesn't matter where you buy your Sherwin Williams paint from, because most of that money spent is getting sent back to headquarters for Sherwin and only the markup is staying local. This example is more along the line of buying your beer from a Whole Foods in comparison to buying them from the local bottle shop.

The economic multiplier effect is 100% true, just as giving more money to those in need helps the economy much more than giving money to those that have money. A tax break on someone making under 50,000 helps the economy much more than a tax break on someone making 1,000,000. The guy making 1,000,000 is more likely to put that money into his own pocket, while the person under 50,000 has things he still needs to buy so he is going out and spending that money you give him. The effect of shopping locally is definitely the same. If I buy something from my neighbor, he will buy something from his neighbor, and then he will buy something from his neighbor until the money makes it back to me and everyone prospers.

The hypocrisy lies in the fact that some people get up in arms about a subject in one area, but gleefully ignore it in other areas.

Lists like this are more valuable. I would much rather spend money on people who are good people, such as someone like Bill Gates who donate the vast majority of what they make to charity, than compared to some dirtbag who is a just not worthy of my money. Not sure if I agree with these examples, but douchenozzles don't deserve my money.

I gladly will admit I drink Blue Moon and keep it on hand if I have someone coming over. I know it is a safe beer for most people, and if there are leftovers I can drink them. I know a lot of people that don't like certain styles, so since I like being a good host I have something for them to drink. The best way to get someone to try something new is to give them something similar to what they like and ease them into the stuff they believe they may not like because it is different.

Tech companies are a perfect example. It has been admitted by several tech companies that when they are making a purchase a very high percentage of the time it is to acquire that companies copyrights, patents, and trademarks. They then use these acquisitions to create lawsuits and try to drive their competition into the ground.

The one major difference I see is that the tech industry promotes start ups, and I believe the reason is so the big guys can vulture what they want to give them an edge. ABinBev is more short sighted and they don't see the value in the smaller companies.

Sounds like almost every other company that I know of.

This is correct. Buying from the source also cuts down on total taxes paid. If the product goes through 4-5 different hands there are 4-5 different times an item could be taxed, depending on the code. If it is produced and then directly bought, that is 1 time that the item could be taxed, thus keeping the price down.

 

In regards to your response to me, I totally understand how it's frustrating that people get up in arms about one thing and not the other. Hell, I've seen people with pictures of them drinking BCBS as their avatar writing "Fuck ABinbev!" I was just trying to show that not everyone who comments on the big brewers is a hypocrite just because they have a Verizon phone (I apply my same purchasing behaviors to everything, not just beer). Additionally, your point about the money for the paint getting kicked back to Sherwin Williams is spot on, however, that mark-up that stays in the store, is still worth it to me. Small potatoes in the grand scheme of things, but it adds up for sure.

 

Yes, they have. And, like I said, they have been failing. Which is why they are now buying breweries in Oregon instead.

 

The way I read it, those numbers are for the combined # of regular distributors (what PA calls a beer store) and importing distributors.

I'm not in the industry so maybe someone else can chime in, but I believe the real number of wholesale distributors is pretty low. I know from the threads about limited beers (for example, Bell's Hopslam or Founders KBS), that a particular brewery's beer might be funneling through only 2 or 3 wholesalers for the whole state - one East and one Central/West.

 

Hey at least we still probably have the highest number of breweries distribute in our state on the East Coast.

And just this month the PLCB made an interpretation that distributors can start selling beer in less than 24 bottle cases! (12 packs, or greater than 128 oz. total as long as original brewery packaging). We have hope!

 

The break up of the cases is nice. Now if you could only buy on sundays lol.

 

actually, certain places can now, including some of the state liquor stores too.

http://www.lcb.state.pa.us/PLCB/Licensees/SundaySales/index.htm

 

Look at you guys go marching into the 21st century. I wonder how much of AB money got the laws changed for the better (please note the scarsam)